


A New Friendship

by pasteldanhowells



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Disability, Fluff, Library, M/M, wheelchair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 09:16:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7885306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasteldanhowells/pseuds/pasteldanhowells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan is in a wheelchair and can’t reach a book in the library, so Phil helps him, they meet and start a new friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A fic I started a long time ago and never finished.

“Fuck!” Phil Lester immediately looks over when he hears someone shout.

It's a Tuesday afternoon and Phil has been in the library, looking for some new books to read. Phil is a big reader, and always had been since he was a little boy, and he absolutely loves reading new books so he definitely spends a lot of time in the local library.

Phil frowns when he sees a young man in a wheelchair, trying to reach a book on one of the high shelves.

“Excuse me, sir?” Phil quickly walks over to him.

The young man with black hair and dark brown eyes looked up at him, looking frustrated and a little embarrassed.

“Hi,” the young man mumbles, quickly looking down at his hands.

Phil chuckles. “Do you need any help getting a book down?” He asks calmly.

The young man instantly looks back up at him. “No, I’m fine. This happens all the time. I can get it…”

Phil frowns as he watches the young man once again try to reach up and grab the book that he was trying to get before. Phil quickly reaches over and stops him, and then he grabs the book for him and hands it to him. The young man blushes when Phil hands him the book.

“My name is Phil,” Phil introduces himself, flashing him a friendly smile.

“I-I’m Dan,” Dan whispers, blushing. “Thank you for this.” he says as he holds up a book.

“That’s a really good book, by the way,” Phil tells him, nodding towards the book which was ‘Divergent’.

“Oh, is it?” The young man, Dan, asks as he looks up at Phil.

Phil smiles and nods. “Yeah, you’re going to absolutely love it. I read it a few months ago and it was really good. I can’t wait for the movie to come out, the trailer looks amazing,” he says.

“Yeah. That’s why I wanted to read it. I saw the video on Youtube and thought it looked good and then I found out that there was a book so I decided to come to the library. I’m sorry, I talk a lot when I’m nervous,” Dan apologizes after rambling.

Phil chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s fine. No need to apologize,” he says. “Do you live around here?”

Dan blinks a few times as he looks up at Phil. “Yeah, I live about 10 minutes away from here. Why do you ask?” He asks curiously.

“Well, I was just wondering if I could treat you with a cup of coffee,” Phil says.

Dan scoffs. “Why would you want to hang out with some loser in a wheelchair?”

“Hey, don’t say that. I’m sure you’re not a loser. You’re definitely not a loser just because you’re in a wheelchair and you seem like a really cool guy who obviously has good tastes in books. I’d like to get to know you, maybe we could hang out and possibly start a new friendship if that’s what you wanted,” Phil says softly.

Dan takes a deep breath, not being used to people wanting to hang out with him. “A coffee sounds nice,” he says, blushing even more. He's pretty sure his face was red at this point with all the blushing he's been doing. 

Phil beams. “Great! Do you think I could get your number by any chance?” He asks.

“Oh, yeah! Do you have a piece of paper I could use? I have a pen.” Dan says as he pulls out a pen from his backpack.

“Yes, of course, just give me a second,” Phil says. He gently sits his own backpack down on the table next to him. He pulls out one of the notebooks that was in his backpack and opens it up, and then he tears off a small piece of paper and hands it to Dan. He watches as Dan write his number down on the piece of paper. Dan bites his lip slightly as he stares at his number which is now written on the piece of paper before he finally holds the piece of paper up.

“Here you go,” Dan says. “I’m free all the time so text me or call me whenever you want."

Phil nods. “I will, definitely. It was nice meeting you. Enjoy the book!” He says.

Dan smiles. “Thanks again for helping me get it down,” he mumbles. He looks at Phil one more time before he wheels off to go check out the boy.

Phil takes a deep breath as he looks down at the number that's been sloppily written on the piece of paper. 

He will _definitely_ be calling Dan later.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan sighs as he sits on the couch in his living room. It had been a week since he's met Phil, the boy from the library.

Dan should have known. He should have known that Phil wouldn’t call him. Phil's just like everybody else. He just wants to get Dan’s hopes up and make him feel normal for once and then forget about him, just like everybody else. Dan should be used to it by now, but it still hurts.

Dan just thought that maybe Phil would be different from everybody else. Clearly he was wrong.

Dan bites his lip as he looks around his apartment. He doesn't know what he's going to do. He already has filmed his Youtube video for the day and he isn't planning on starting to edit it until later. Not many people knew that Dan had a Youtube channel and that he had quite a few subscribers. He had a little over 100,000 subscribers and he was proud of that. None of the subscribers knew that Dan was in a wheelchair though. He has that part hidden from them. He's too embarrassed and he was afraid that everybody would make fun of him if they found out. He already got enough of that in the real world.

Dan looks over and spots his wheelchair by the door. He groans. He sits there for a few seconds before he finally decides to try to stand up but gasps when he instantly loses his balance and lands right onto the floor. This wasn’t the first time that Dan has fallen like this. He had tried multiple times to walk by himself but nothing ever worked.

~~~

Phil smiles as he walks into his bedroom. He's planning on going out for the day as it was a nice day out, which is unusual because London always has crappy weather. Phil is going to enjoy it while he could. He walks over to his closet and grabs his jacket and pulls out his wallet from the pocket. He blinks a few times when he felt something else and then he pulls out a piece of paper. He drops his jacket onto the floor as he unfolds the piece of paper. He frowns when he sees that it's Dan’s phone number.

He completely forgot to call Dan after they met and now he feels horrible about the whole situation.

Phil walks over to his bed and sits down. He debates for a moment before he finally pulls out his phone and immediately calls Dan.

“Hello?” Dan asks when he finally answers his phone.

Phil sighs in relief, happy that Dan actually picked up the phone. “I’m so glad you picked up,” he says.

“Who is this calling…? Phil?” Dan asks nervously.

“Hey, I’m so sorry about not calling you back. It totally slipped my mind,” Phil says.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not the first time someone stood me up,” Dan mumbles. "I'm used to it."

Phil frowns. Now he's really starting to feel bad for forgetting to call Dan earlier. Phil has been honest when he said that he wants to form a friendship with Dan. Dan really does seem like a cool person to hang out with. “I really didn’t mean to stand you up, Dan. I really _did_ want to hang out with you. I _do_ think that you’re a cool guy and I want to hang out with you and get to know you better. I really think that we could form some kind of friendship,” Phil pauses for a second. “Hey, what are you doing right now? Are you doing anything important?” He asks curiously, smiling slightly.

“Well… right now I’m lying in the middle of my living room,” Dan tells him.

“Wait, why are you lying in the middle of your living room?” Phil asks curiously.

“It’s complicated. To answer your question… no, I’m not doing anything right now.” Dan says.

“How about we get some coffee and go to the movies,” Phil suggests.

“No thanks. I don’t like going to the movies,” Dan sighs.

“But, you said you were getting Divergent because you wanted to see the movie?” Phil remembers.

“I am going to see the movie. I wait until the movies are out on DVD and then I order it and watch it at home,” Dan explains.

“Dan, that’s silly. You should try going to the movies. It’s a lot of fun,” Phil says.

“There are too many people at the cinema. I don’t do well with crowded places,” Dan mumbles.

“Are you afraid that people are going to make fun of you for being in a wheelchair?” Phil asks.

Dan went silent for a few seconds, and then he takes a deep breath. “You have no idea what I’ve been through,”

“Dan, I would never let anyone hurt you. I only met you once but I feel like we have a lot in common. We don’t have to go to the movies but what about that coffee? On me,”

“Fine,” Dan says with a sigh of defeat. “I’ll get some coffee with you.”

“Great! What’s your address? I’ll come pick you up,” Phil says.

As soon as Dan gave Phil his address, Phil immediately gets ready and left to pick up Dan.

A half an hour later; Phil shows up at Dan’s apartment. He waits for a few seconds before the door opens. He glances down and is a little surprised when he saw Dan already in his wheelchair and is ready to go.

“Wow. I thought you were stuck in the middle of your living room?” Phil asks, raising his eyebrows.

“Like I said… it’s complicated,” Dan says, shrugging his shoulders.

“Should we get going then?” Phil asks, quickly changing the subject, figuring Dan doesn't want to talk about it.

“Okay. We need to take the elevator though,” Dan warns.

“Gotcha, there are a lot of stairs in this apartment actually so I’ll gladly take the elevator over the stairs,” Phil says. He steps aside and then he watches as Dan wheels himself out of his apartment. Phil reaches over and then he shut the door for him. He looks over at Dan and smiles. “Ready to go now?"

“Yeah. Can you lock my door real fast?” Dan asks as he hands his keys to Phil.

“Sure,” Phil says as he took the keys from Dan.

Once Dan’s door was locked… they finally leave the apartment and decide to go to Starbucks first, which is where Dan likes to go the most for coffee so Phil is very pleased to hear about that. Phil can tell that Dan is still very nervous and slightly scared about hanging out with him but Phil only hopes that he will be able to get Dan to see that he wasn’t like all those other people who teased him about being in a wheelchair. Phil isn't like those people.

“Here we go,” Phil says as he walks into Starbucks, holding the door for Dan.

Dan glances up at him as he wheels himself into Starbucks but didn’t say anything. “Hey, you go pick a table and I’ll order for you. What do you want?” Phil asks as he looks down at Dan.

Dan tells him what he wants and then he finds him and Phil by the windows. He pushes one of the chairs out of the way so that he can have more room. Dan looks over at Phil again and sighs. Dan wants to be Phil’s friend. A friend is something Dan has always wanted his whole life. Dan constantly has to be wary of whom he hangs out with. He is always afraid of being used and afraid that nobody will ever want to hang out with him for being him.

“Dan?” Dan is quickly shaken out of his thoughts when he hears Phil say his name. “Here,” Phil hands him his coffee.

“I could have gotten it myself, you know? I'm not completely useless,” Dan says as he takes his coffee from Phil.

Phil sits down in the chair across from Dan. He frowns and looks up at Dan. “I was just being nice,”

“It’s just… some people think that I can’t do normal things just because I’m in a wheelchair,” Dan mumbles.

“Dan, I do not care that you’re in a wheelchair,” Phil sighs softly. "I wanna hang out with you to hang out with you."

“Let’s just… talk about something else,” Dan mumbles.

It's silent for a few seconds. Phil bites his lip as he stares at Dan. “So, how old are you then?” He asks.

“Um, I’m twenty two,” Dan tells Phil. He looks up at Phil again. “You?”

“I’m twenty six,” Phil answers, shrugging his shoulders.

“You look a lot younger than that,” Dan says. “I mean that in a good way."

Phil chuckles and shakes his head. “Well, thanks… What caused you to be in a wheelchair? If you don’t mind me asking…” He bites his lip nervously, hoping that Dan wouldn’t get upset with him. He isn't trying to make him feel bad. He's honestly just curious.

“Um,” Dan takes a deep breath. He looks down at his hands, “I don’t know you enough to talk to you about it.”

“Totally understandable. I guess I’m just curious,” Phil shrugs. "We don't know have to talk about it if you're not comfortable."

Dan sighs in relief, and he starts to relax again.

Eventually Dan and Phil were able to get past the awkwardness and they start a real conversation. Dan found out that he did have a lot of common interest with Phil. They talked about Youtube, of course Dan didn’t dare say anything about being a Youtuber himself, but they watch the same Youtubers. They love the same bands and artists and songs. Dan can't believe that he and Phil have so much in common with each other. He’s never met anyone like him before. It's a nice feeling.

“Wow. It looks like we’ve been here for an hour?” Phil says as he pulls out his cell phone and looks at the time.

“It seems like we’ve only been here for five minutes,” Dan says.

“So, do you wanna head out then?” Phil asks Dan.

“I guess so,” Dan says, shrugging his shoulders. He sits fully up in his wheelchair.

Phil smiles and then he stood up from his chair. He and Dan start to go out of Starbucks together, but Dan stops as soon as he hears someone call his Youtube name ‘danisnotonfire’. Dan takes a deep breath and nervously looks over and sees a girl walking towards him. He's terrified about what the girl was going to say to him. He never told his subscribers that he's in wheelchair. Phil will then know that he lied to him about being a Youtuber.

“You’re danisnotonfire, from Youtube. I watch your videos all the time,” The girl says.

Dan turns his wheelchair slightly as he stares at the girl. “Can I help you?” He asks calmly.

“I was going to ask for a picture but it seems that you’re in a wheelchair,” She says.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Dan asks, frowning slightly.

“You’ve never mentioned once in your videos that you had a wheelchair,” The girl adds.

“Because it’s _personal_. I don’t have to share everything with the internet,” Dan snaps.

She scoffs and shakes her head. “Whatever, I’m so unsubscribing from you as soon as I get home,” she mumbles. She quickly walks pass Dan and Phil and then walks out of Starbucks without saying another word.

Dan looks back over at Phil and frowns even more when he sees the disappointed look on his face.

“I can’t believe you lied about that. You said you would never want to be a Youtuber,” Phil says.

“Phil, I…” Dan begins to say. He takes a deep breath.

“Forget about it,” Phil snaps. He shakes his head and then he turns around and walks away from Dan, leaving him alone again.

Dan’s eyes begin to water up as he sat there for a few seconds, just staring at nothing. 

This is exactly why he didn’t get close to people, he always somehow ends up screwing everything up. 

Life just seems to hate him.


	3. Chapter 3

A couple weeks have passed since Dan has last seen Phil. Dan has tried sending him multiple texts, apologizing to him. He tries calling him and left him multiple voicemails. Phil just doesn't answer them and completely ignores him, and Dan is hurt by that. He didn’t think that a little lie would affect Phil like this. Dan finally makes a new friend for the first time since his high school days, and he blew everything. He just had to go and screw everything up… just like he always did in life.

Dan isn't having such a good time handling everything. Everything is going downhill. The girl he talked to at Starbucks had posted everywhere online that he's in a wheelchair, and had even gotten a picture of him. It’s the only thing that people would talk about. He can't tweet or post on tumblr and even the comments on his videos were now filled with people talking about him being in a wheelchair. Dan couldn’t stand it anymore so he completely stopped going online because of it. He even thought about deleting all of his social media accounts but he thought that would make matters worse than they already were.

Dan’s trust in people has gone down fifty percent after everything that’s happened with Phil. He hasn’t spoken to anyone and he won't speak to anyone who tries to talk to him. He just stays locked up in his apartment, where he feels safe from the outside world.

But now, it's a Tuesday afternoon. Dan has finally got the courage to leave his apartment, as he had to return ‘Divergent’ to the library. He just wants to return it and get back to his apartment as soon as possible. He doesn't plan on stopping anywhere.

Dan sighs with frustration as he wheeled himself into the library. Though what he didn’t know, was that Phil is also at the library. Phil is sitting at a table, reading a book. He glances over and then he sits up fully as soon as he sees Dan come into the library. He bites his lip nervously as he watches him wheel himself over to the library desk. Phil immediately stands up. He takes a deep breath before he finally walks over to the library desk, where Dan was. Phil is a bit nervous to walk up to Dan as it's been about three weeks since they had last spoken to each other and their last meeting didn’t exactly end on a great note.

“Funny how we keep running into each other at the library,” Phil says softly.

Dan immediately jumps when he hears the familiar voice. He looks up and then freezes as soon as he sees that it's Phil. He quickly reaches over and sits the book onto the desk, not saying anything to Phil. Dan turns himself around.

“Hey, where are you going?” Phil asks. He runs over to Dan again and walks in front of him, so he can't leave.

“Get out of my way,” Dan warns as he looks up at Phil, glaring at him.

“Can we talk for a second?” Phil asks, not moving from his spot.

“You are the last person that I want to talk to,” Dan snaps.

“Why are you angry with me? I should be the one angry at you. You’re the one who lied to me!” Phil yells.

“Shh!” Phil looked up at the librarian at the desk, and sighs.

“Can we please just talk about this?” Phil asks, more quietly.

“Move out of my way,” Dan says. He takes a deep breath.

Phil sighs in defeat and then he steps out of Dan’s way. He watches as Dan wheeles out of the library but then he quickly follows him. “Dan!” Phil yells. He runs over to him, grabbing the wheelchair to stop him from going anywhere.

“Will you please just let me go home?” Dan asks as his eyes begin to water up, though he doesn't understand why he's being emotional over a boy he barely knows.

“We would have never been in this position if you had just been honest with me in the first place,” Phil says as he walks in front of Dan again.

“I have to lie about who I am. You just don’t understand what I go through every single fucking day,” Dan snaps.

“Dan, you shouldn’t have to lie about who you are. I got to know you a little more last time we hung out and I really liked being with you. I really liked talking to you. Why did you have to lie to me about being a Youtuber?” Phil asks.

“It’s complicated,” Dan mumbles as he looks down at his hands.

“Well, why don’t we un-complicate it. How about we hang out again this weekend or something?” Phil suggests.

“Why do you want to hang out with me so badly?” Dan asks curiously.

“Because… I like you,” Phil admits, biting his lip slightly.

“Oh _please_ , no one likes a guy in a wheelchair,” Dan mumbles, rolling his eyes. “Please get out of my way!”

“Dan… I don’t want to end the friendship that we started like this,” Phil says.

“Don’t you have other friends that you could hang out with?” Dan asks.

“Well, of course I do. But, you’re different than them,” Phil says.

“Because I’m a guy in a wheelchair,” Dan sighs with frustration.

“No! Not because you’re in a wheelchair. I like you for you, Dan. We have a lot in common; we both like the same bands and music and we watch the same movies and TV shows. I’ve never met anyone like you, and that’s a good thing,” Phil takes a deep breath before continuing. “You just gotta learn to trust people sooner or later in your life. I know you’ve been through a lot but you can trust me. I’m not like all those other people who have treated you like crap. I promise! Please give me another chance?"

Dan stares at him for a few seconds before letting out another sigh. “Fine,” he mumbles.

“Really?” Phil asks excitedly. “So, is this weekend okay?”

“I’m busy this weekend. Can we just go to my apartment today?” Dan asks.

“Oh, sure. Just lead the way there,” Phil nods, a smile forming on his face. He steps aside so Dan can go in front of him.

Dan takes a deep breath and slowly nods. “Okay,” he mumbles.

20 minutes later; Dan and Phil were finally at Dan’s apartment. Dan is nervous about having Phil over. He hasn't had a guest over properly in probably a couple of years. Dan is just afraid of what people would say if they saw how he navigates around his own apartment. So, to avoid that… he never let anyone over. Phil is an exception.

“So, is this where you make your famous videos?” Phil asks curiously as Dan lead the way into his living room.

“Uh, no… I usually film in my bedroom but it’s a mess right now so we should probably stay in here,” Dan answers.

Phil chuckls. “Alright then,” he says. He bites his lip nervously as he watches Dan wheel over to the couch. He watches quietly as Dan lifts himself up from his wheelchair and then sits himself down on the couch.

Dan looks up at Phil and stares at him. “You can sit down you know. I don’t bite,” he says.

“Well, maybe but I mean… you never know… You might bite, I don't know you that well,” Phil says jokingly before he finally walks over to the couch and then he sits down next to Dan. “I think we should talk…” He starts to say. He looks over at Dan.

“Look, I’m sorry that I lied to you, but I did what I had to do,” Dan says quickly.

“Why? You shouldn’t have to lie about who you are,” Phil frowns.

“I did it because I don’t want people on the internet to know that I’m in a wheelchair…”

“But, what about that girl we saw? The one who recognized you?” Phil asks curiously.

“Everybody knows. My internet life is practically ruined,” Dan mumbles as he looks down at his hands.

“What are people saying then?” Phil asks calmly.

Dan shrugs his shoulders and remains silent, still staring at his hands.

“It was really that bad?” Phil asks with shock. “Dan, I’m sorry…”

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have lied and now I got myself in this position,” Dan says quietly.

“You’ve been through a lot. I don’t know what you’ve been through but I can tell that you really have been through a lot. You don’t trust people because of how they treat you. It’s really not your fault,” It then went silent for a few seconds. Phil bites his lip slightly as he stares at Dan. “I watched some of your videos a while ago.”

“You did what?” Dan asks as his eyes went wide with shock.

“After the last time we saw each other, and how I found out that you really are a Youtuber… I wanted to watch your videos for myself to see what they were all about. I had no idea that you had over a hundred thousand subscribers. People must really love your videos. And if they’re going to send you hate or unsubscribe to you because of a little lie… then they’re missing out on a lot because you’re videos really are great. I spent a good hour watching most of your videos.” Phil says with a smile.

“You’re just saying that to be nice to me…” Dan whispers as his eyes begin to water up.

“I’m saying it because I mean it,” Phil corrects him.

Dan nervously looks up at him. “Why _are_ you so nice to me?” He asks.

“Because, you deserve it. I really do like you. We obviously have a lot in common with each other. We love the same bands and we watch the same TV shows. Its obvious fate wants us to be friends,” Phil chuckles. "Really, you do seem like a cool guy. I just wanted to hang out with you and get to know you more."

“A friend is all I’ve wanted. No one ever gives me the time,” Dan says sadly.

“I’ll give you all the time in the world,” he says.

“Thank you, Phil. It really does mean a lot to me… that you’re doing all of this, taking time out of your own life.” Dan takes a deep breath. Crying in front of Phil was something Dan didn’t want to do but he couldn't help that he is an emotional guy.

“It’s my pleasure. If you ever need a friend, then I’m here for you. Just remember that,” Phil assures him.

Dan can't help but smile, for the first time in weeks.

“Maybe I overreacted when that girl said you were a Youtuber. I mean, it really was just a small lie,” Phil admits.

“No! I shouldn’t have lied to you period. You’re being so nice to me and I should have told you the truth,” Dan says.

“Well, I know the truth now and that’s all that matters,” Phil says.

“I can’t believe I might actually have a friend for once in my life,” Dan whispers.

“You’ve never had a friend before?” Phil asks, frowning.

“I used to have quite a few… before the wheelchair incident happened and then they all left,” Dan mumbles.

“Well, you have me now. I won’t leave you no matter what,” Phil whispers softly.

Dan looks up at him and smiles. “Thanks, Phil. It’s nice to know that I have a friend."


End file.
